Advertising device



J. w. PAx'soN- ADVERTISING DEVICE Nova 1, 192 7.

Filed Oct. 24, 192.5

Patented .hlov. l, lQZ'ZC 1 ir a res f tenses Jonntv. ransom,PHILALBELEHL- i, rnnnsrnvanm, ASSIGNOR, nrivinsnn essraniunlvrs, TODAVID w. Pearson, or rHILAnnLPn-m, PENNSYLVANIA.

- ADVERTISING DEVICE.

' application filed. caterer 24, 1925. Serial no; cases.

cally.illuminatedfigu es of an 1 nesired sort are arranged to.iorininitials, words, or in fact any symbol hy which an article iswidely known,,such figures facing the shore whence they are easilylegible to the throngs of persons gathered together, as for instance ata resort, an exposition, or. other waterside mecca. i

A further object is to provide a barge or other suitable type offloating element with a frame or lattice suliiciently stout and rigidtoqsupport, and to which are secured.

the letters or other figures above referred to, andwhen desirable therebeing other ures secured to and di'r'ectedfrom the oposite side of saidframe, so that either a similar or dilieren't sign may be brought intothe visibility of those upon the shore, piers, or boats,when the saidfloating element turns about and faces in the opposite direction.

Still another object is to provide suitable means within the barge or.other form of floating device, whereby the engine employed to propel thesaid floating device drives an electric dynamo or generator, whichillumi nates the figures of the signs, either directly or through themedium of suitable storage batteries. Y

And astill further object is to provide for a sign, or series ofadvertising figures, too extensive for a single floating member, carriedupon a. series of floats, scovss, or the like, fastened togetherbycables and together drawn by any'suitable form of power unit such as alaunch, dory, or the like, the electricity for the signs being generatedcontinuously by means within the draft unit, or supplied from batteriesupon each float which may have been charged during the hours of light,while the illumination of the signs is unnecessary.

With these and other objects in mind, the

invention comprises further details of construction and operation fullybrought out in the following description, when read in conjunction wlththe accompanying drawings,

in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view or artists conception of a bargeand superiinposed electrically illuminated sign comprising oneembodiment of the invention. off. shore at a pleasure resort; Fig.2 isa.side elevation of the barge and sign per se; Fig. 3 is an end elevationof the same as shown; in F 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a draftboat'inorder to show schematically a suit able means for generating thecurrentfor illuminating the sign; Fi-'g. .5 is, asideel'evation ofaxseries of float-s, scows, or the like drawn by a suit-able boat;v andeach of the floats carrying a sign, which taken as a whole cooperate toformalargersign than asingle boat could Well carry; and 6 is viewsimilar'to Fig. "3 but showing the oppositely directed signs extendingvertically from the transverse center or the. boat and maintained infixedposition lay-suitable stays.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is shown a barge l, orany other suitable form'of floating member, of such size asto safelysupport letters, numerals, or

other desirable figures 2, said figures being i such height that, whenilluminated in the manner of signs carried by fixedfsupports upon terrafirms, and moved upon the surface of a body of water at such a distancefrom the shore as may be dictated by the draftof the said member, the.outwards t'ension of piers, etc, they are clearly and easily discerniblewith the naked eye ofthe average person who may be upon the shore orpiers, bathing or boating nearby. i For. many years advertising has beenin creasing rapidly and the sums spent in this connection annuallyhavcreached 'ttabulous. proportions, and still the manufacturers of widelyused products continue to seek new and untried ways of calling theattention of the .Vast consumingjpublic to their wares. With theperfection of the electric lamp the illuminated sign has taken on aninfinite variety of forms, fixed, changing, moving, etc, but so far asis known advantage has not heretofore been taken of the relatively blackand uncluttered background offered by the water and sky oil-shore, atsuch places Here, for instance, a barge of suflicient size can beslowlydrawn up and down the shore front, out beyond the reach of thepiers, and with letters or other figures of fifteen feet or more inheight properly 1lluminated, it would form a most conspicuous,attractive and compelling display, against the dark black background ofthe sky and sea, as only the eerisome figures and their dancingreflections would be visible in the waves, exactly as though theyfloated unaided upon the surface of the water.

It is to be understood that in referring to a barge, no limitations isplaced upon the character of the floating member, and the illuminated.figures may obviously be of any height that may be dictated by localconditions or advertising requirements. Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, onemanner of supporting the said figures upon the barge is illustrated ascomprising lattices 3 of any approved form and construction, preferablyassembled transversely in an A shape, while the figures, secured tothese downwardly diverging frames, face in opposite directions, thoseupon one side being illuminated while the floating support moves in onedirection, and when the latter reverses and moves in the oppositedirection, those figures facing in the opposite direction beingilluminated and the first set being extinguished.

The illumination of the lights of the figures may be accomplished in anydesired manner, as forinstance that illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein theoutline 4; represents any type of boat that maybe employed, its pro--peller 5 being driven by an engine 6, which also actuates the dynamo orgenerator 7, whence electric current is conveyed either directly to thelights, or to a storage battery 8 during the daylight hours and thenceto the lights at night.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a series of floats, scows, or the like '9connected together by cables 10, and drawn by a. power boat 11, to whichthe foremost flat-boat is connected by a cable 12, it being understoodthat, if the electric current for the illuminated figures is not takenfrom storage batteries within the flat-boats, it may be transmitted bysuitable conductors from a generator in the draft boat 11.

Referring to Fig. 6, instead of the oppositely directed signs 2 beingsupported by an A frame and slanting with respect to the deck of theboat 1, they are positioned in the transverse center of the boat,extending longitudinally thereof and in upright parallel relation, beingmaintained in this position by means of suitable wire, rods, or thelike, 14. Otherwise, the invention as embodied in this arrangement issimilar to the constructions and operation hereinbefore described. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In an advertisin device, amoving body to float upon the surface of a body of water,indicia-indicating figures, a frame upstanding from the top surface ofthe floating body and consisting of opposed sections, each sectionconsisting of a marginal part with braces arranged within the marginalpart intersectingly and in diamond formation to reinforce the marginalpart and carry said indicia-indicating figures, said sections beinginclined toward each other at the top of the frame, whereby the sectionsmay be in close proximity with each other at the top in a directionsubstantially immediately above and coincident to the longitudinalcenter of the floating body to insure its equilibrium, and diagonalintersecting and horizontal braces to materially reinforce the sectionsrelative to each other and additionally reinforce said first namedbraces.

2. In an advertising device, the combination with a body to float uponthe surface of a body of water, of a frame relatively fixed on the deckof said floating body and comprising two opposed sections inclined fromopposite sides of the deck toward each other and arranged in, closeproximity at their top portions substantially directly over and incidentto the longitudinal center of the deck, each section comprising amarginal frame having reinforcing braces within it. indiciaindicatingfigures supported on the reinforcing braces, means adapted forilluminating the figures on one section when the floating body moves inone direction and extinguishing them and illuminating the figures on theother section when the floating body moves in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

JOHN W. PAXSON.

